Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne confirmed that he will participate in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG after surviving an injury scare in the 1st PAK vs AUS Test. Labuschagne was hit on his palm while batting in the 2nd innings, prompting injury scares. However, the batter confirmed that he was fit, revealing that his finger was fine and wasn’t broken.
Labuschagne shakes off injury scare
Speaking to reporters after the 1st Test in Perth, Labuschagne revealed that the delivery had hit his knuckle which had jammed his hand, making him nervous. He admitted that this blow was different compared to the ones he had received earlier.
“That’s happened so many times when I’ve been on the bench, so it’s going to have to take something pretty serious I reckon to have me miss. The finger’s fine, there’s no break. It hit me more on the knuckle side and jammed up my hand, so I was a bit nervous out there. I’ve had a lot of finger blows, but this felt a bit different,” Labuschagne told reporters.
“Overnight it was a little bit sore but Sunday morning was fine. I had a hit and it was all right. It just got me in a bit of an awkward spot. There was no padding on that side of the glove, and it got me sort of underneath and jammed it, so it didn’t feel that good. But I’ve actually got some really good range in it,” he added.
Labuschagne was rapped on his hand by a delivery from Khurram Shahzad a couple of deliveries before he was dismissed. He was attented to promptly by the team’s medical staff and was good to go a few minutes later. However, he managed to score only 2 runs off 18 deliveries before he was dismissed.
PAK vs AUS Boxing Day Test
Riding high on a win in the 1st Test, Australia have named the same squad for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan. The hosts made just one change to their squad, releasing pacer Lance Morris who will take part in the BBL. AUS will now have a 13-member squad for the 2nd Test instead of 14.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner